“Shut up, that’s the cutest thing ever,” Lucy swoons.
Bella and Elena come over. “What’d we miss?” Elena chimes in.
“Jade was telling us how she and Matteo met,” Posey explains to the two of them as Elena sits down next to Lucy and Bella stands at the end of the bar.
“His drinks are so gross,” Elena says, curling her lip up in disgust. “There’s no hint of coffee left after he’s done.”
“They’re like dessert drinks,” I laugh.
Bella shrugs her shoulders. “I don’t think they’re bad.”
“Because your sense of taste sucks, just like his.”
Bella and Elena start bickering about coffee drinks. Lucy looks bored and pulls out her phone as Posey stands there, chin propped on her hand as she listens to the two of them with an animated expression.
“Sunny,” Matteo calls out to me, pulling my attention from the girls. I turn around and see him standing by the pool table. “Can I borrow you?”
“Excuse me,” I say to no one in particular, holding onto my water bottle as I walk over to Matteo. There’s so many new faces, so many people here I don’t know, it’s a bit overwhelming.
He lets out a soft sigh when I reach him, a ghost of a smile dancing across his lips. “Hi.”
“Hi,” I breathe, relief washing over me. Something about being near him provides a layer of comfort. Familiarity.Safety. “Did you figure out the air hockey table?”
Matteo shakes his head. “I think it’s done.” He tilts his head to the side. “Sorry for abandoning you.”
“No, it’s okay. Everyone seems so nice.” I roll my lips between my teeth, biting down before releasing them. “They said I’m the first girl you’ve ever brought to meet any of them.”
Matteo stares at me, his throat bobbing. “Yeah,” he says softly, his chin dipping. “I’ve never wanted them to meet anyone else before. No one else ever felt important enough for that.”
My heart stumbles inside my chest. “Are you saying I’m important?”
The gray hues swirl in his eyes like cool steel, his gaze burning into mine, captivating me. The room around us dissipates. The voices and the people—they all cease to exist. “Yeah, Sunny.” The corners of his mouth lift. He takes a step closer. “I think you might be.”
“Yo, Matty,” Shaw calls out, shattering the moment between us, thrusting us back into reality. Into the basement where all his friends and sisters are. “Can we eat since your girl is here?”
His girl.
Matteo doesn’t correct him.
“Yeah,” he answers, letting out a deep breath as he rakes a hand through his hair. He lets out a soft laugh, tearing his gaze from mine. “Yeah, let’s go.”
As if one unit, everyone heads toward the stairs and up to the kitchen where the food is, and we fall in step behind them.
Matteo stops at the bottom of the stairs and lifts a questioning brow as he motions for me to go first. “I’m sure you haven’t eaten yet?”
“You know me so well.” A crooked smile haunts my lips as I pass him..
And if I weren’t as tuned into him as I am, I would have missed the three words he murmurs under his breath as I head up the steps.
“Not well enough.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
MATTEO
“How could I be focused on competing against her when she looked at me like that? Like she wanted my hands in her hair and my lips on her neck.” - Julian Hart, Painted Inferno
Jade stands in the kitchen, her back turned to me as she slides the empty dip container into the bag she brought. It’s already inching closer to midnight and everyone else cleared out a few minutes ago.
